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In Great Lakes International Trading, Inc. v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, No. 3 13-cv-01522(JAM), 2014 WL 6686633 (D. Conn. Nov. 26, 2014), a Connecticut federal court judge, applying New Jersey law, held that a flood exclusion barred coverage for a loss arising out of Sandy.  Great Lakes involved an insurance claim for damage… Continue reading Connecticut District Court, Applying New Jersey Law, Holds Flood Exclusion Bars Coverage for Sandy Loss

The book I co-authored with my partner, Frank DeAngelis, is now available for pre-order.  The book, which is entitled “New Jersey Insurance Coverage Litigation Treatise: A Practitioner’s Guide,” is being published by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, which is a division of the New Jersey State Bar Association.  The book provides a… Continue reading New Jersey Insurance Coverage Litigation Treatise: A Practitioner’s Guide

As a general matter, a first-party property insurance policy provides coverage for direct physical loss or damage to covered property.  An all-risk policy, one of the most common types of first-party property insurance policies, provides coverage for all risks of “direct physical loss or damage.”  In most policies, however, this phrase is not defined. The… Continue reading Gregory Packaging: NJ Court Further Chips Away at Physical Loss or Damage Requirement

In my prior blog post, I reported on a recent decision by Judge Gary R. Brown, a United States Magistrate Judge from the Eastern District of New York.  In that decision, Raimey v. Wright National Flood Ins. Co., 14 CV 461 (JFB)(SIL)(GRB), 2014 WL 5801540 (E.D.N.Y. November 7, 2014), the court ordered all defendants/insurers in… Continue reading Insureds’ Counsel Seek to Have NJ Federal Courts Adopt the Raimey Decision

Judge Gary R. Brown, a United States Magistrate Judge from the Eastern District of New York,  recently issued a decision concerning changes to a report made by an insurance company’s consultant during the adjustment of a Sandy claim.  The insurance company sought to rely on that consultant’s revised report in an action commenced against it… Continue reading N.Y. Federal Judge Issues a Scathing Sandy Decision Involving an Insurer’s Consultant

Judge Travis L. Francis, of the New Jersey Superior Court, Middlesex County, granted summary judgment in favor of Lexington Insurance Company in a Sandy claim involving Wakefern Food Corp.  A copy of the decision is attached. Wakefern Decision

Determining precisely when property damage or personal injury occurred in a case involving exposure to chemicals or other toxic substances can be extremely difficult, if not impossible.  In most cases, the acts or practices giving rise to potential liability occurred decades before the injuries manifested themselves.  It is often the case that a commercial insured… Continue reading Owens-Illinois/Carter-Wallace Revisited: N.J. Court Addresses Allocation Yet Again

It is not uncommon for an insured to ask its insurance broker to add a third-party as an additional insured under its insurance policies.  This happens most frequently in connection with construction contracts and lease agreement.  Typically, the broker will issue a “certificate of insurance” that lists the third-party as an additional insured under the… Continue reading N.J. Appellate Division Holds that Certificate of Insurance is Essentially Worthless

A third-party insurance policy provides coverage for an insured’s liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage.  This is in contrast to a first-party insurance policy, which provides coverage for damage to the insured’s own property.   An insurer generally has two obligations under a third-party policy:  (1) it must defend its insured in… Continue reading N.J. Appellate Division Rules No Coverage for Economic Losses Arising Out of the Sale of Faulty Materials

Most first-party property insurance policies contain a suit-limitation provision, which limits the amount of time an insured has to commence an action against its insurer.  The time generally ranges from one to two years.  Under New Jersey law, certain types of insurance policies are required by statute to contain suit-limitation provisions. Courts have uniformly enforced… Continue reading Limitations on the Right to Sue: Suit-Limitation Provisions Shorten the General Six-Year Contract Statute of Limitations